Asbestos, especially crocidolite, is linked to a number of respiratory diseases including asbestosis and mesothelomia. The carcinogenic properties of asbestos fibers appear due to their size and shape, not chemistsry. A major hypotheses for how asbestos causes cancer is that, once incorporated into the cell, the fiber(s) induce aneuploidy in a small percentage of cells by disrupting chromosome motion during mitosis. Currently there is no data on living cells regarding the behavior of asbestos during mitosis. Indeed, it is not known whether the fibers enter the spindle and, if so, whether they bind to chromosomes or play a more passive role. Drs. Ault and Jensen, in collaboration with the BMIRR staff, have been using the video-enhanced polarized LM component of BMIRR to follow the behavior of crocidolite during mitosis in living newt lung cells. Their results reveal that asbestos can become incorporated into the forming spindle, but that it does not bind to chromosomes. Rather, it is apssively displaced when impacted by moving chbromosomes. This work has been published in Cancer Research and is featured in the highlights section.